2020 Lasker Public Lecture with Immunologist Arturo Casadevall

Secret Science Club & the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation present the 2020 Lasker Public Lecture with Immunologist Arturo Casadevall

Join us live via Zoom, WEDNESDAY, September 23 @ 8PM (Eastern Time USA). “Doors” to the Zoom Room open at 7:30PM

Shhh… everyone on our mailing list will be emailed the Zoom link the night before.  (To join the Secret Science Club mailing list, send us an email.)

Since the start of this pandemic, Arturo Casadevall and his colleagues have been working 24/7 on researching antibody-rich convalescent plasma as a treatment for COVID-19. Their efforts (and those of plasma donors) have been hailed by many as heroic. Yet in recent weeks, convalescent plasma has become alarmingly politicized.

At the next Secret Science Club, we cut through the noise with Dr. Casadevall, as he explores why the investigation of convalescent plasma and antibody-based therapies is important—no matter the outcome—and how it may help in the search for other treatments and preventions.

Dr. Casadevall asks:
•    How does the SARS-CoV-2 virus attack the human body? How does the body fight back?
•    What is the theory behind using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 and how are studies being conducted? What does the data show? What other antibody-based therapies are being investigated?
•    What can we learn from research and experiences fighting the coronavirus in other countries? Is there an end to the pandemic in sight? 

Arturo Casadevall is a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University, and chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The author of more than 746 scientific papers, he aims to protect people from harm caused by new pathogens, resistant organisms, and compromised immune systems. His groundbreaking contributions to the field of infectious disease have been recognized with multiple awards and honors, including the American Society for Microbiology Founders Distinguished Service Award, the National Institutes of Health Merit Award, the Rhoda Benham Award from the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas, and his election to both the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently the chair of the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project, a consortium of physicians and scientists from 57 hospitals, universities, and blood banks who are investigating the use of convalescent plasma in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before & After: Mix up our cocktail of the night, the Cuba Libre in honor of Dr. Casadevall’s birthplace (cocktail recipe will be on our website); groove to our emergency-approved playlist; and stick around for the live audience Q&A.  

This edition of the Secret Science Club, the 2020 Lasker Public Lecture in honor of Al Sommer, is sponsored by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. The Foundation works to foster the prevention and treatment of disease and disabilities by honoring excellence in basic and clinical science, educating the public, and advocating for support of medical research.

This is a FREE event!

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